1. Field of the Invention
This invention has to do with self-latching peak detectors and more particularly, is concerned with high-speed peak detectors providing a digital output. Apparatus and method are provided to achieve accurate determination of peak voltage values for very narrow pulses with the capability of fast reset.
2. The Prior Art
Present methods of measuring the peak amplitude of a very narrow pulse involve the use of analog peak voltage detectors and/or very high speed analog to digital converters (ADC's). The analog peak voltage detector suffers from circuit complexity and drift errors. Also, it is very difficult to reset at high rates. Further, if post-conversion signal processing is required, the output of the analog peak voltage detector must first be converted to a digital word. The maximum conversion speed is on the order of 100 MHZ. Direct digital sampling without peak detection using high-speed ADC's would eliminate the analog peak detector problems but accurate detection would be limited to approximately 10 MHZ.